The simulation of the dynamical behavior of processes or events is greatly important in many technical fields. Practically, each control logic or control device according to the current state of the art is developed according to a simulation of the functionalities of the device by means of a virtual model. Control processes are also simulated by virtual models, which simulate the behavior of the control logic in several operative conditions such that the correct configuration of the control logic can be tested relatively to a proper way of functioning before a control device operating with such control logic is produced.
Virtual models simulating the behavior of devices or plants or simulating the evolution of processes or events both in time and in space are also relevant for the cognitive processes of artificial intelligence since a device provided with artificial intelligence can evaluate the consequences in future times of events, of which some parameters describing the effects of those events have been measured at different times.
This kind of technology enhances the power of artificial intelligence in evaluating events or processes and in taking decisions about actions or operations to be carried out based on the evaluation of data acquired by measuring physical or chemical parameters of a certain environment.
Events or processes but also devices, plants or control systems can be described by physical and/or chemical parameters. Those parameters relate to the condition of the event, of the process or of the device, of the plant or the control system and/or to the functional or evolution steps which will be carried out as a response to certain status conditions. Thus, it is clear that a space can be constructed representing the event, the process or the device, the plant, and the control system in relation to certain status or functional parameters. Such status or functional behavior or the evolution of the event or the process can be described by means of a topographic representation.
Similarly, considering a device or a plant or a control system, these have a two or three dimensional structure which can be described by functional or constructive schemes, in which single operative units or organs are represented and their connections, such that the behavior of the system, of the device or of the plant can be represented by the changes in the status or functional parameters of the single operative units or organs. That plant, that device or system already has a topographic structure related to the positions of the operative units, which could serve as a space for representing the system. In a further improvement, however, the space to be used is a space defined by a certain number of status or functional parameters of a certain number of operative organs or units, in which a point in this space represents a status condition or a functional condition at a certain time of a certain operative unit or organ. When the status or functional conditions changes in time, the point representing the status and/or functional condition of a certain operative unit or organ changes its place in that space.
Consider, for example, a system in which the status condition of each organ or unit provided in the system is defined by P, V and T (Pressure, Volume, Temperature) parameters. A three dimensional space can be constructed in which the status or functional condition of each unit or organ is described by a point in said space, the coordinate of that point being the measured or imposed values for pressure, volume and temperature at said unit or organ. Thus, by representing each operative unit or organ by a different point, positioned in the space according to the coordinate set equal to the measured or imposed values for pressure, volume and temperature at said unit or organ, a status map at a certain time of the entire system can be generated. Repeating such measures in time enables following evolution status.
If the system has a great number of operative organs or units, it is a very high burden to measure the values of pressure, volume and temperature at each of those operative organs or units.